Scallop swimming kinematics and muscle performance: modelling the effects of "within-animal" variation in temperature sensitivity

Escape behaviour was investigated in Queen scallops (Aequipecten opercularis) acclimated to 5, 10 or 15 degrees C and tested at their acclimation temperature. Scallops are active molluscs, able to escape from predators by jet-propelled swimming using a striated muscle working in opposition to an elastic hinge ligament. The first cycle of the escape response was recorded using high-speed video ( 250 Hz) and whole-animal velocity and acceleration determined. Muscle shortening velocity, force and power output were calculated using measurements of valve movement and jet area, and a simple biomechanical model. The average shortening speed of the adductor muscle had a Q(10) of 2.04, significantly reducing the duration of the jetting phase of the cycle with increased temperature. Muscle lengthening velocity and the overall duration of the clap cycle were changed little over the range 5 - 15 degrees C, as these parameters were controlled by the relatively temperature-insensitive, hinge ligament. Improvements in the average power output of the adductor muscle over the first clap cycle ( 222 vs. 139 W kg(-1) wet mass at 15 and 5 degrees C respectively) were not translated into proportional increases in overall swimming velocity, which was only 32% higher at 15 degrees C ( 0.37m s(-1)) than 5 degrees C (0.28 m s(-1))

Anti-CD47 antibody suppresses tumor growth and augments the effect of chemotherapy treatment in hepatocellular carcinoma

BACKGROUND & AIMS: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is often associated with metastasis and recurrence leading to a poor prognosis. Therefore, development of novel treatment regimens is urgently needed to improve the survival of HCC patients. In this study, we aimed to investigate the in vitro and in vivo effects of anti-CD47 antibody alone and in combination with chemotherapy in HCC. METHODS: In this study, we examined the functional effects of anti-CD47 antibody (B6H12) on cell proliferation, sphere formation, migration and invasion, chemosensitivity, macrophage-mediated phagocytosis, and tumorigenicity both in vitro and in vivo. The therapeutic efficacy of anti-CD47 antibody alone or in combination with doxorubicin was examined in patient-derived HCC xenograft. RESULTS: Blocking CD47 with anti-CD47 monoclonal antibody (B6H12) at 10mug/mL could suppress self-renewal, tumorigenicity and migration and invasion abilities of MHCC-97L and Huh-7 cells. Interestingly, anti-CD47 antibody synergized the effect of HCC cells to chemotherapeutic drugs including doxorubicin and cisplatin. Blockade of CD47 by anti-CD47 antibody induced macrophage-mediated phagocytosis. Using a patient-derived HCC xenograft mouse model, we found that anti-CD47 antibody (400mug/mouse) in combination with doxorubicin (2mg/kg) exerted maximal effects on tumor suppression, as compared with doxorubicin and anti-CD47 antibody alone. CONCLUSIONS: Anti-CD47 antibody treatment could complement chemotherapy which may be a promising therapeutic strategy for the treatment of HCC patients. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.postprin

Revealing heterogeneous nucleation of primary Si and eutectic Si by AlP in hypereutectic Al-Si alloys

The heterogeneous nucleation of primary Si and eutectic Si can be attributed to the presence of AlP. Although P, in the form of AlP particles, is usually observed in the centre of primary Si, there is still a lack of detailed investigations on the distribution of P within primary Si and eutectic Si in hypereutectic Al-Si alloys at the atomic scale. Here, we report an atomic-scale experimental investigation on the distribution of P in hypereutectic Al-Si alloys. P, in the form of AlP particles, was observed in the centre of primary Si. However, no significant amount of P was detected within primary Si, eutectic Si and the Al matrix. Instead, P was observed at the interface between the Al matrix and eutectic Si, strongly indicating that P, in the form of AlP particles (or AlP ‘patch’ dependent on the P concentration), may have nucleated on the surface of the Al matrix and thereby enhanced the heterogeneous nucleation of eutectic Si. The present investigation reveals some novel insights into heterogeneous nucleation of primary Si and eutectic Si by AlP in hypereutectic Al-Si alloys and can be used to further develop heterogeneous nucleation mechanisms based on adsorption

Surface-initiated growth of copper using isonicotinic acid-functionalized aluminum oxide surfaces

Isonicotinate self-assembled monolayers (SAM) were prepared on alumina surfaces (A) using isonicotinic acid (iNA). These functionalized layers (iNA-A) were used for the seeded growth of copper films (Cu-iNA-A) by hydrazine hydrate-initiated electroless deposition. The films were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and advancing contact angle measurements. The films are Cu0 but with surface oxidation, and show a faceted morphology, which is more textured (Rq = 460 ± 90 nm) compared to the SAM (Rq = 2.8 ± 0.5 nm). In contrast, growth of copper films by SnCl2/PdCl2 catalyzed electroless deposition, using formaldehyde (CH2O) as the reducing agent, shows a nodular morphology on top of a relatively smooth surface. No copper films are observed in the absence of the isonicotinate SAM. The binding of Cu2+ to the iNA is proposed to facilitate reduction to Cu0 and create the seed for subsequent growth. The films show good adhesion to the functionalized surface

Observation of a ppb mass threshoud enhancement in \psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p}) decay

The decay channel $\psi^\prime\to\pi^+\pi^-J/\psi(J/\psi\to\gamma p\bar{p})$ is studied using a sample of $1.06\times 10^8$ $\psi^\prime$ events collected by the BESIII experiment at BEPCII. A strong enhancement at threshold is observed in the $p\bar{p}$ invariant mass spectrum. The enhancement can be fit with an $S$-wave Breit-Wigner resonance function with a resulting peak mass of $M=1861^{+6}_{-13} {\rm (stat)}^{+7}_{-26} {\rm (syst)} {\rm MeV/}c^2$ and a narrow width that is $\Gamma<38 {\rm MeV/}c^2$ at the 90% confidence level. These results are consistent with published BESII results. These mass and width values do not match with those of any known meson resonance.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Chinese Physics

The deep-subsurface sulfate reducer Desulfotomaculum kuznetsovii employs two methanol-degrading pathways

Methanol is generally metabolized through a pathway initiated by a cobalamine-containing methanol methyltransferase by anaerobic methylotrophs (such as methanogens and acetogens), or through oxidation to formaldehyde using a methanol dehydrogenase by aerobes. Methanol is an important substrate in deep-subsurface environments, where thermophilic sulfate-reducing bacteria of the genus Desulfotomaculum have key roles. Here, we study the methanol metabolism of Desulfotomaculum kuznetsovii strain 17T, isolated from a 3000-m deep geothermal water reservoir. We use proteomics to analyze cells grown with methanol and sulfate in the presence and absence of cobalt and vitamin B12. The results indicate the presence of two methanol-degrading pathways in D. kuznetsovii, a cobalt-dependent methanol methyltransferase and a cobalt-independent methanol dehydrogenase, which is further confirmed by stable isotope fractionation. This is the first report of a microorganism utilizing two distinct methanol conversion pathways. We hypothesize that this gives D. kuznetsovii a competitive advantage in its natural environment.Research was funded by grants of the Division of Chemical Sciences (CW-TOP 700.55.343) and Earth and Life Sciences (ALW 819.02.014) of The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), the European Research Council (ERC grant 323009), and the Gravitation grant (024.002.002) of the Netherlands Ministry of Education, Culture and Scienceinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The thalamic mGluR1-PLC??4 pathway is critical in sleep architecture

The transition from wakefulness to a nonrapid eye movement (NREM) sleep state at the onset of sleep involves a transition from low-voltage, high-frequency irregular electroencephalography (EEG) waveforms to large-amplitude, low-frequency EEG waveforms accompanying synchronized oscillatory activity in the thalamocortical circuit. The thalamocortical circuit consists of reciprocal connections between the thalamus and cortex. The cortex sends strong excitatory feedback to the thalamus, however the function of which is unclear. In this study, we investigated the role of the thalamic metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 (mGluR1)-phospholipase C ??4 (PLC??4) pathway in sleep control in PLC??4-deficient (PLC??4-/-) mice. The thalamic mGluR1-PLC??4 pathway contains synapses that receive corticothalamic inputs. In PLC??4-/- mice, the transition from wakefulness to the NREM sleep state was stimulated, and the NREM sleep state was stabilized, which resulted in increased NREM sleep. The power density of delta (??) waves increased in parallel with the increased NREM sleep. These sleep phenotypes in PLC??4-/- mice were consistent in TC-restricted PLC??4 knockdown mice. Moreover, in vitro intrathalamic oscillations were greatly enhanced in the PLC??4-/- slices. The results of our study showed that thalamic mGluR1-PLC??4 pathway was critical in controlling sleep architecture.ope

Mesenchymal stem cells secretome-induced axonal outgrowth is mediated by BDNF

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have been used for cell-based therapies in regenerative medicine, with increasing importance in central and peripheral nervous system repair. However, MSCs grafting present disadvantages, such as, a high number of cells required for transplantation and low survival rate when transplanted into the central nervous system (CNS). In line with this, MSCs secretome which present on its composition a wide range of molecules (neurotrophins, cytokines) and microvesicles, can be a solution to surpass these problems. However, the effect of MSCs secretome in axonal elongation is poorly understood. In this study, we demonstrate that application of MSCs secretome to both rat cortical and hippocampal neurons induces an increase in axonal length. In addition, we show that this growth effect is axonal intrinsic with no contribution from the cell body. To further understand which are the molecules required for secretome-induced axonal outgrowth effect, we depleted brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) from the secretome. Our results show that in the absence of BDNF, secretome-induced axonal elongation effect is lost and that axons present a reduced axonal growth rate. Altogether, our results demonstrate that MSCs secretome is able to promote axonal outgrowth in CNS neurons and this effect is mediated by BDNF.European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), through the Centro 2020 Regional Operational Programme under project CENTRO-01–0145-FEDER-000008:BrainHealth 2020, and through the COMPETE 2020 - Operational Programme for Competitiveness and Internationalisation and Portuguese national funds via FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P., under projects PTDC/SAU-NEU/104100/2008, EXPL/NEU-NMC/0541/2012 and UID/NEU/04539/2013. This work was also funded by Marie Curie Actions - International reintegration grant #249288, 7th Framework programme, EU. Partially funded by Prémios Santa Casa Neurociências - Prize Melo e Castro for Spinal Cord Injury Research; Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (IF Development Grant to A.J.S.); NORTE-01-0145-FEDER-000013, supported by the Northern Portugal Regional Operational Programme; by FEDER funds, through the Competitiveness Factors Operational Programme (COMPETE), and by national funds, through the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), under the scope of the project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007038. The authors would also like to acknowledge Prof. J.E. Davies from the Institute of Biomaterials and Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto, Canada, for kindly providing some of the HUCPVCs lots used in the present workinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Experimental studies of e + e -→ some charmless processes containing K S0 at √s = 3.773 and 3.65 GeV

We measure the observed cross sections for the charmless processes e + e -→K S0 K - K - K + π ++ c.c., K S0 K - π + η+c.c., K S0 K - π + π + π - η+c.c., K S0 K - K - K + π + η+c.c., K S0 K - K - K + π + π 0+c.c., K S0 K - ρ ++c.c. and K S0 K - π + ρ 0+c.c. We also extract upper limits on the branching fractions for ψ(3770) decays into these final states at 90% C.L. Analyzed data samples correspond to 17.3 pb-1 and 6.5 pb-1 integrated luminosities registered, respectively, at √s = 3.773 and 3.65 GeV, with the BES-II detector at the BEPC collider. © 2009 Springer-Verlag / Società Italiana di Fisica.published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 21 Feb 201